Promotional incentive methods, such as distribution of coupons and toys in cereal boxes, are some of the traditional ways retailers and manufacturers entice consumers to purchase a product in order to build loyalty to the specific goods or services. Further, the consumer reaction to these and other promotional efforts is useful to the marketing of the products. This information, also referred to as data mining, is viewed by many as an invaluable asset used to build loyalty to the products, increase market share, and build future marketing campaigns.
To collect this information, and to influence the buying habits of consumers, employed promotional methods range from exposing the entire population to media-oriented information messages, to more controlled environments, such as analyzing selected panelists.
With respect to incentives for electronic device, such as electronic games, “cheat codes” have been used in the past for magazine subscriptions. A disadvantage to the “cheat codes” is that they do not translate well to the cereal box model, for example, since they are easily replicated and disseminated without buying the cereal. For example, many codes are listed on personal web sites.
Thus, there exists a need for a technology that can provide an enhancement to an electronic device, while providing marketing research to distributors, manufacturers, and/or retailers.